On June 17th, NAMI’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a new resolution condemning racism, which can be read on our website here.

As the resolution states, NAMI is strongly committed to the principle that all individuals, including communities of color and people with mental illness, should be treated with respect and dignity and deserve equitable health outcomes and full inclusion.

We want to be clear. We must not simply condemn racism and call it a day. NAMI, in order to fulfill our mission, must be actively anti-racist. To that end, we must continue to fight to eliminate the mental health disparities perpetuated by racism and racial discrimination. We must continue to spread awareness about the negative psychological, social, educational and economic effects caused by racism. We must continue to work to provide culturally competent services to those experiencing a mental health condition and to those who love them.

But we also recognize that in order to change the outside world, we must begin within our own. We need to educate ourselves, acknowledge systemic racism and the role we play in it. We have to own where we have failed and recommit ourselves to do better. This is why we are hosting a Virtual Town Hall series about race and mental health. And it is why we are working to embed diversity, equity and inclusion throughout everything we do in our strategic plan.  

This resolution applies to the entire NAMI Alliance, and we encourage you to share it with your network and partners. –Caniel H. Gillison, Jr. CEO, NAMI